> A Dragon's Pride and a Mare's Kindness
>  by DARKPHANTOM13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Teacher and the Student
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I lay in the main chamber of my castle that was built within the tallest mountain of my domain, resting my eyes as I waited for my student to answer my summons that I sent hours ago. My student usually would be here within a minute after he gets my summons unless he is in the middle of something important. Knowing him he's on some adventure, job, or mission. That kid always had a tough time staying in one spot and seems to be a magnet for trouble. I'm not that worried about him though, he is more than capable of taking care of himself. A zap sounded throughout the room, signaling my student’s arrival.

I opened my eyes to gaze upon my student. He was much smaller dragon than me since he's only 22 years old since he was hatched. He stood a good 6 feet and 2 inches. His scales were a dark purple and had forest green spikes that looked like teeth on a buzz saw that started on the top of his head and ended near the tip of tail which ended with an arrowhead. His eyes were somewhat narrowed and his eye color was the same as his spikes. About six years ago he grew purple and green wings and has grown out rather well. The young drake was wearing his usual green t-shirt with a tribal dragon symbol on it and a black long sleeve high collar unzipped jacket. On his claws he wore finger less biker gloves and had black cargo pants that stopped right it is ankle. 

On his side was a side black and green book bag with flame designs on it that he puts everything he thinks might need in there. With him were his weapons that he is rarely without. A massive mechanize broadsword with a double edge blade that was 5 feet and 4 inches long and 8 inches wide magically attached to his back that was slanted to one side. And on his legs were two large handgun grip and trigger, double barreled, sawed off shotguns holstered on his legs, one gun for each leg. And from the blood on his clothes and the annoyed look on his face my assumption about him being on a mission or something was true.

"Have I ever told you that you have a lousy sense of timing?" He said in his somewhat deep voice.

"I believed you have mentioned before." I stated in my much deeper voice that would have shaken the room if it wasn't made from stone and rock. "So what situation did you end up in this time?"

"I was in the middle of sneaking my way in an illegal slavery circuit when your message gave away my position and things got a bit bloody." My student said casually. "Don't worry though; all the slaves are alive and safe while the slavers and buyers are either dead or arrested."

"And with most of the slavers and buyers’ money and valuables are suddenly missing I take it." I said with a raised a scaled eyebrow.

With a shrug he replied, "It's not like they’re going to use it anytime. So what did you need me for teach?" He was always one to get right to the point.

I decided to give him a question myself. "Tell me Arcanissixen, what do you know about Princess Luna?"

"She's an alicorn with the power to influence the movements of the moon and used to rule Equestria alongside with her older sister Princess Celestia who could influence the sun a thousand years ago. At one point she got jealous that their citizens liked her sister more than she did. It got to the point where her jealousy got the better of her and turned rogue. She became Nightmare Moon and tried to plunge the world into eternal night. Celestia than was forced to use the Elements of Harmony on her and send her to the moon. And if the stories I heard about are true, she came back about two months ago try to cover the world in night, but she was stopped and turned back to normal by the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony."

"I see you are well informed young one."

A cheeky smirk appeared on his face. "You’re the one who always said that information is power, but what does Princess Luna have to do with why you called me?"

"I'm going to Equestria to see how she is doing and catch up with both her and Celesita, and I would like you to come with me."

"Are you sure that's a good idea to make such a long trip? It's going to take at least a day's worth of nonstop flying to get there if we hustle. I could just met the princesses and teleport them here."

"I'm more than capable of making the trip Arcanissixen. I'm not that old." I said indigently.

"You’re over 15,000 years old." My student deadpanned. "That's really old, even by dragon standards. But if you’re going to do this I might as well come with to make sure you don't have a heart attack or something. Hopefully this will be a short visit."

"Do you not like Equestria? Or is perhaps the ponies you do not like?"

"I have nothing against ponies or any race, it's just that the one's in Equestria are really cut off from the world outside their country and aren't really welcoming to those who aren't native ponies. While I have a few friends that live there and I do visit them from time to time I prefer not to stay there for too long."   

"That is understandable, though I hope that one day that will change."

"I do too. Anyway give me some time to clean off the blood. I don't think it will give a good first impression. I'll meet you at the ledge in ten." And with that said my student teleports out of the chamber. It's good to see that he is putting the teleportation spell I taught him to go use. I open the chamber doors with my magic and made my way to the ledge that I use as a platform when I'm about to fly somewhere. As I stood near the edge of it I look over my domain. I see small groups or settlements of dragons, miles from my castle and I see one or two large cities on the horizon. A zap sounded off behind me. Without looking back I asked him "Are you ready for the trip?"

The drake walked up beside me has he takes out a pair of sunglasses and puts them on. "Ready as I'll ever be, now let’s get this show on the road and make sure you keep up old timer." As soon as he said that he runs near the ledge and jumps off of it. He lets himself fall for a few seconds before he spreads his wings and took to the sky. I chuckled at this antics before I also jump of the ledge and joined him in flight as we make our way to Equestria. 



1 Day Later

Princess Celestia and her recently returned sister, Princess Luna waited patiently in their throne room as they waited for the arrival of Celestia's student and her friends. Celestia was wearing her usual royal garb with white and gold making up its colors with her cutiemark of the sun on her chest plate. While Luna was wearing a similar clothing with black and blue colors and a crescent moon image on her chest plate. The guards at the door of the throne soon opened them to let in six mares, the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony. As the six mares made their in front of the princesses Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic and leader of the group spoke to the rulers. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, we're here as you requested."

The princess of the sun gently smiled at her student and her friends. "I am glad you are able to come here on such short notice. You see, my dear student, an old friend of mine and my sister had recently heard of her returned and asked to have a meeting to see how she is doing and to catch up. He also proposed something that would involve the six of you and my friend's student who is joining him."

"What did your proposed princess?"

"I believe that is better kept as a surprise. Don't worry though, you six will learn of it during out meeting. They should arrive sometime tomorrow, so for now feel free to explore the castle or city until I summon you for the meeting. The guards will show you to your rooms." 

As a guard guided the mares out of the throne room and to their rooms Luna turned her attention to her sister and asked, "Dear sister, are thou certain that this is a wise decision? From what Paarthurnax has mentioned about his student, while he has a good heart there is a good chance his personality will conflict against the Elements." 

"Do not worry my dear sister. I'm sure that this will be a great learning experience for the Elements and our new arrivals." 
                       
> The Meeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The princesses, my friends and I made our way out of the castle when we met a group of guards with one particular unicorn leading them. He was a tall muscular pony with white fur and two toned blue hair and was wearing armor befitting a captain of the guard. He looked towards us with a smile and I recognized the unicorn.

"Shiny!" I yelled out as I ran towards him and gave him a big hug.

The stallion retuned the lets out a chuckle. "It’s good to see you to Twily. How's thing been with you?"

"Great! I can't wait to tell you everything that has happen for the last few months."

"Ahem." We hear a polite cough. We turned around to see that the princesses had an amused look on their faces my friends were confused. "Twilight, darling, would you kindly introduce us to your friend." Rarity asked.

"Sorry about that girls. Everyone, this is my older brother Shinning Armor, captain of the royal guard." 

"It's nice to meet you girls. You can't even imagine how happy I am that you girls are her friends. I was worried she would grow up as some lonely, grumpy old mare that only cares about books." 

"Shiny!?" I yelled out embarrassed as everyone either lets out a laugh or a chuckle. "Anyway why are you here?" 

"A group of guards and myself are here to be the princesses', your friends', and your bodyguards on the way and during the meeting." 

"I understand your concern Shinning Armor." Princess Celestia said. "However you and the guards do not need to do so."

"It is our job Princess. We cannot let the Princesses of Equestria and the Elements of Harmony go unprotected."

Celestia lets out a sign, probably given up on changing their minds. "Very well, but I expect you all to be on your best behavior. We'll be greeting our guests outside of Canterlot and will have our meeting outside while we have our meal."

That sounded a little odd to have a meeting outside. "Why outside Princess Celestia?"

An amused smile appeared on my teachers face. "You'll see."

We make our way to outside of Canterlot on foot. My friends and I talked with each other along the way. It was about a thirty minute walk and thankfully the guards was able to keep some of the overzealous citizens away. When we got outside of the city we waited for about 15 minutes. Rainbow Dash was getting impatient and Pinkie was zipping around, rambling about making new friends. I turn my attention to the Princesses, who have been silent during the trip and the wait. The two of them just quietly looking into the horizon. "Excuse me Princesses, but how much longer until they arrive?"

Princess Celestia was about to say something but something caught both sisters' eyes. A friendly and happy smile appeared on Princess Luna's normally stoic face. "It appears that our guests have arrived." 

That caused everyone to look into the horizon closely. We all look up and see something high in the sky. While we couldn't make out what it is we could tell it was big. As it got closer we could see it had large wings that occasionally flap. A loud roar is heard throughout the land, telling us what the large figure was, a dragon. The girls and I was getting nervous while Fluttershy was shaking like a leaf and hiding behind Dash. The guards were on edge waiting for any attack. The dragon closes its wing and starts to dive boom with a smaller figure speeding in front of it. The dragon levels out while the other figure continues its dive. It finally spreads its wings and levels out just about two or three meters above the ground as it flies toward us. As it got closer we realize that it was another dragon only this one was pony size. It suddenly flapped its wings, sending it high into the air. As it reached the apex of its height the dragon point its wings toward the sky and falls to the ground. It lands a couple of meters from us creating a small crater and a dust cloud.

As the dust clear we the dragon on one knee with one hand on the ground. He gets up and calmly walks closer to us and stops when he is a few yards away. Now that he was close enough to see in detail I must admit that I'm a bit impress. He was over 6 feet tall. His scales were a dark purple and had green spikes that reminded me of the teeth on a buzz saw that started on the top of his head and ended near the tip of tail which ended with an arrowhead. His eyes were cover by a pair of sunglasses as he looked at us. Coming out of his back was a pair of purple and green wings. He was wearing a green t-shirt with a weird dragon symbol on it and a black long sleeve high collar unzipped jacket. He wore fingerless biker gloves and had black cargo pants. On his side was a side black and green book bag with flame designs on it. Maybe he liked to read as well? I noticed that he was armed. A massive, weird looking broadsword with a double edge blade was attached to his back that was slanted to one side. And on his legs two large guns holstered on his legs, one gun for each leg. Guns were very rare in Equestria since most were illegal to normal citizens. It didn't bother most people since Equestria focus more on magic than technology. The most advance gun you usually in this country was revolvers. Just about everything about this dragon screamed 'Bad Boy'.

The guards were reaching for their weapons, ready for any hostile actions by the dragon. Fluttershy is still hiding behind Rainbow Dash while looking at the newcomer. Rainbow Dash was staring at him while muttering 'That was so cool.' to herself. Rarity had a spark of interest in her eyes that I had never seen before. Applejack was looking at the drake speciously. And Pinkie was looking at in awe, probably because she thought she was going to make a cool looking friend. Even I'll admit that that my jaw was slightly open.  

He calmly looks at all of us until his eyes lay upon the Princesses. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna I presume?" The dragon said in a deep but surprisingly smooth voice. 

The Princesses nodded while Princess Luna asked, "Indeed. We take it that thee is our old friend's student?"

"That's me." He takes a quick glance at the girls and I before looking back to the princesses. "Though I think we should hold off the introductions until my teacher gets here. He's not as young as he used to be." He then turns around to look at the larger dragon. The beast slows itself down and hovers down to the ground. When it landed the ground shake like a mini earthquake. Now that he was closer we could make out his features. He was a really large dragon with pale greyish green scales. While most dragons have wings on their backs with wings were his arms like that of a bat with small holes and tears in them. He had two horns with one of them broken. Three rows of small spikes went from his head to his spiked tail. His lower jaw was lined with horns and spike that almost looked like a beard with a few broken. His blue snake like eyes held wisdom and experience that surpassed even the princesses in depth.



 

Overall anypony could tell that this dragon was powerful, wise, and really old. It made wonder just how old this dragon is. My friends were looking at the large dragon with different levels of interest and fear. The dragon turned his attention to the princesses and what resembled a smile spread across his snout. "Greeting ponies of Equestria." The dragon said in a voice so deep that I could feel it in my body. "It is good to see that you are back to your old self Luna."

"Indeed. And it is nice to see that you are doing well after all this time old friend." Princess Luna replied. She then turned her attention to the smaller dragon. "And I see that you had taken on another student during my absence."

"Quite right. He has been my student for about ten years now."

"I hate to interrupt but I think introductions are in order." The purple drake said while pointing to him, the girls, and myself.

"I believe you are right." Celestia said. She turned toward us and gestured to the dragons. "My little ponies, allow me to introduce Paar the Wise, the Sovereign of the Northern Mountains and one of the five leaders of the Dragon Empire."

One of the leaders of the Dragon Empire? There is little that Equestria knows about the Dragon Empire due to the tension between the two nations. A good portion of ponies in Equestria consider dragons to be savage monsters due to looks and eating meat. While dragons believed that ponies are too high and mighty about themselves since many discriminate against none pony races. There have been peace talks between them but it's usually the nobles on either side that made things difficult. They current treat is in lay stallion terms it basically said it will stay out of each other’s manes and scales respectively. Citizens of both nations could visit the other but dragons usually stay away from Equestria due to the treatment they get from a lot of ponies. While most ponies were too afraid of being attacked or eaten to even go close to the Dragon Empire.

"And I'm his student." The smaller dragon announced. The drake takes off his sunglasses and puts them away in his jacket. Reveling his emerald, snake like eyes. "Spike the Wanderer, at your service."

"It is going to finally meet you in person Spike. Paar has told us a lot about you." Celestia commented. She gestured to the six of us. "Allow me to introduce the Elements of Harmony, my student Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy."   

"Now that everyone has been introduced I believe that we should get our meeting started." Paar suggested.

"I do believe your right. Why don't we talk somewhere more appropriate?" The white alicorn replied. Both Princesses and The large dragon eyes glowed with magic and teleported everyone to a secluded section of the Canterlot Gardens. There waiting is a large table eight chairs on one end with one on the side of the other end. It left a lot of open space on the other end of the table. It is probably for the wise dragon to sit. The Princesses, my friends and I went to sit in the eight chairs while Spike sat on other end as the large dragon positioned himself in the open space of the table. My brother stood guard on the where we sat.

"Now that everyone is comfortable I believe now it is time for us to discuss what I proposed." The large green dragon started. 

"Yes and I have to agree that our students will benefit from it greatly." The Princess of the Sun agreed.

"Umm, excuse me Princess but what are you two talking about?" I asked.

"Why having Spike living with you in Ponyville, of course." The white alicorn explained.

"WHAT?!" Spike and I yelled. Apparently he didn't know about this as well.

"You didn't say anything about me staying in Equestria teach!" The young drake yelled to the older one.

"I didn't?" Paar asked with a fake confused look on his face. I think, it is kind of hard to tell Paar's expressions. "It must have slipped my mind." 

"Yeah right." Spike muttered under his breath. He forced himself to calm down and asked, "Any reason why you want me to do that?"

"There are a few actually. I want you to be the ambassador of the Dragon Empire and a mediator during international discussions. You have experience with not only ponies and dragons but also many different races and cultures makes you perfect for both positions. Plus you have the will and skills to deal with those that will...disapprove of your position."

"Umm, excuse me." Fluttershy quietly said, while raising her hand a little like a filly asking a teacher a question. "What did you mean by the experience with different races? If you don't mind me asking."

"Well you see the "Wanderer" title isn't just for sounding cool. When I was sixteen my teacher wanted me to go out and see the world and that's what I basically did for six years. Go from one place to the next. Meeting new people and seeing new sites. Learn as much as I can and pick up a few tricks along the way." Spike explained in his teacher's stead. He then turned his attention back to said dragon. "Anyway, while I can see your point those jobs doesn't need me to be here 24/7, let alone live with a complete stranger." I couldn't help but agree with him on that.

"Another reason is to have the two of you learn from other." Princess Celestia spoke.

"What do you mean Princess?" I asked.

"While both of you both study magic each of you specializes in different fields. You mainly study magical theory and magic in general while Spike specializes in its practical use and combat based magic. The two of you will teach the other in their respective fields. Maybe Spike can also teach your friends how to fight or at the very least how to protect themselves."

"Wait a second Princess." Rainbow Dash spoke out. "I can understand the magic part but why should we learn how to fight?"

"As the Elements of Harmony there is chance that the six of you must face dangers to Equestria." Princess Luna stated. "Nightmare Moon is not the only foe in the world. If you find yourselves in such a situation it is better to be prepared." That seemed to be enough Dash and the others as they nodded their heads in understanding. The Princess of the Night turned her gaze toward Spike. "Now do you understand our reasons?"

The drake in question lets out a sign and answered, "Yeah I do. Fine, I'll do it, but under two conditions. I want to still be able to take and do jobs and missions outside the country."

"Very well." Spike's teacher agreed. "But you must limit the number of missions you take. A few every few months should be enough."

"Okay than. And I want my own place. I don't like that fact that I have to live somebody I don't know, I don't think that there is enough room at her place for my stuff and horde, and I'm not about to turn vegetarian for her sake."

"I understand where you are coming from but there are no available houses in Ponyville at the moment." Celestia explained.

"I got the house part covered, I just need some land to put it on. Maybe somewhere near a forest and or rocky terrain that have gems."

"I think that can be arranged but I would still like you to spend time at Twilight's at least on occasion so the two of you can get use to each other quickly. I believe eight days a month should be enough. What do think Spike?"

"That's fine." Spike turned his head towards me. "What do you think?"

"If Princess Celestia thinks it's for the best then I'll do it."

"Very good, I'm sure that this will be a great learning experience for everyone." Princess Celestia said with a pleased and happy smile on her face.

"YAY! We get a new friend!" Pinkie yelled as she suddenly appeared next to Spike.

"What the hell?!" Was Spike's response. The party mare picked the drake up from his seat and gives him a huge hug. I'm pretty sure I heard some bones popping from Spike's body.

"Nice to meet you Spike I'm Pinkie. Once we get to Ponyville I'm going to throw you the biggest welcome to Ponyville party ever and invite everypony in town. What kind of cake should I make, chocolate or vanilla? Or maybe both?! I could make a chocolate vanilla cake!"

As Pinkie continued to talk as she tried to squeeze the life out of Spike. The drake in question said to nopony in particular and with a deadpanned look, "Not even ten seconds into agreeing to this and I'm already regretting it." 
    
> The First Test and a Painful Lesson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Pinkie continued to ramble and squeeze the life out of Spike he decided enough was enough. He quietly said a word to himself that only he, his mother, and his master understood. He suddenly turn transparent and phased through the party mare's normally impossible to break hug. After a couple of seconds he turned solid again. Everyone looked at in shock, surprise, or interest while Paar deadpanned his student. "Was that really necessary?" His teacher asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Her grip is like a bear trap." Spike replied, as if phasing through people is an everyday occurrence with him. "I don't suppose I have a chance to change my mind on the agreement do I?"

"As much of a chance you giving up meat and gems."

"That's a 'no' than." He signs to himself and turns his attention towards the Elements. "I hope you girls are ready. Since one of my jobs is to make sure all of you can at least hold your own in a fight I'm not going to pull any punches." He then asked the Princesses, "Is there a place nearby that's wide open secluded, and you two won't mind being damage? I want to test something." 

"There are a few places that come to mind." Celestia replied with a thoughtful look on her face. 

"I believe that the old training grounds should be adequate dear sister." Luna said. The two nodded to each other and teleported everyone to the training grounds. You could see that it hasn't been used in a long time. The place was covered in uncut grass and weeds. The clearing where the solders spared looked pretty rough. A few storage sheds here and there that were practically falling apart.

"This should be good enough." Spike said after looking around as he walked to one end of the sparing field. He looked at the Elements. All of whom wondering what he has planned. "I need the six of you to stand on the other side of the field. Everyone else can you please go to the sidelines."

After everyone is in position Twilight raised her hand as if she was in class and asked, "Umm, why are we here? I thought we were testing something."

"We are, now, which of the six of you knows how to punch, kick, and or blast something?" All six girls had confused looks on their faces but none the less Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash raised their hands. "Good, now the three of you are going to fight me."

"What?!" Everyone yelled out besides Paar.

"B-B-But why?" Fluttershy stuttered. 

"I'm going to teach you girls how to fight. To that end I need to know what I'm working with. Since you, Rarity and Pinkie don't even know how to anything fighting related it's safe to assume that I'll be training you three from the ground up. While the other three can do what I asked, so I need to know what they are capable of as of right now. If you or the other two feel like joining feel free to do so."  He cracked his neck and then his knuckles. A cocky smirk spread across his face. "Don't worry; I'll go easy on you guys. Unless you girls are scared."

"Scare?! Hell no!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "We’re not scared of anypony, especially you!" Without a second thought she flies at the calm drake. As she threw a punch Spike grabs her wrist and shirt, spins her, and throws the rainbow mane mare back where she came from. She stumbled a bit in the air but was able to land on her hoofs. She turned around and charged at him, this time on the ground. She puts all of her weight into a punch while Spike simply stretched out his arm. The mare's fist collided with his open palm not budging an inch. A loud thud ranges out as Rainbow's arm shook from the force. She then starts to shake her hand to get rid of the pain while she hop/ran around and cursing loudly. 

Spike simply chuckles to himself and said, "That never gets old. Let that be a lesson to you. Never charge into a fight unless you have a plan or know what your opponent is capable of." Deciding that she had enough of just standing around Applejack goes on the attack. She sends a roundhouse kick only for Spike to block it with his forearm. "Nice kick." Spike mentions as if he was talking about the weather. 

"I'm glad ya'll like it," Applejack said, "because there is plenty more coming." She rights herself and attacks in a flurry of kicks with some punches thrown in. Though not a single on landed. They were all either blocked or avoided. As that was happening Dash went behind Spike and charged him for a full speed tackle. Though at the last second Spike jumped to the side. Causing the blue mare to tackle her friend instead of the dragon. The two tumbled or a meter or two before they stopped in a heap. Both of them sore and dizzy.

"Not bad strategy. Attacking me from behind while your friend had me focused on her. Too bad for you two I was trained to be aware of my surrounding at all times. I'm not perfect but Rainbow here isn't exactly stealthily. Whenever you're fighting in a group you be cautious of your attacks and plans. If you're not careful you could end up hitting your teammate by accident." The drake said, as if he was giving a lecture. Though the lecture was cut short by a purple ball of magic. Which was knocked safely to the side by one of the dragon’s wings. He turned his attention towards where it came from to see Twilight with her horn glowing and hand stretched out. "I was wondering when you were going to do something. Now, let’s see what you got." Twilight raised her other and sends multiple blasts of magic at Spike. Every single last one knocked away by his rapidly moving wings without the rest him moving a muscle. The shocked looks on almost everyone's faces causes a grin to appear on the dragon fighter's face. 

"H-H-How...?" Celestia's student tries to stutter out. Having a tough time understand how someone defends himself from an attack that way with such ease.

"How did I knock your attacks away with my wings? You see I met this demon bat pony a while back that could do the same thing. He was willing to teach me a few of his moves if I could hold my own in a fight against him. The guy maybe beyond emo with the expression range of a rock, but he was as tough as hell! It is amazing what you could learn from other people even in mid fight." He stopped talking as a rock zoomed past his head. He calmly turned his gaze towards Rarity. Who was levitating a bunch or rocks the size of baseballs with her magic. "Well, this is a shock. I didn't expect you to join in on the fun. You don't look the type that gets their hands dirty. Let alone willingly joining a fight."

"True, I normally would not even consider taking part in something so barbaric. However I will not stand idle when my friends need my help and I'm capable of doing so." Rarity stated. The dressmaker started to throw the levitating rocks at high speed towards him while picking up more from the ground. 

"Doing what you can in an out of your element situation so you can help your friends. That is a good way of thinking." Spike praised. "Good conviction and determination is something everyone needs. It can give you the motivation to keep fighting." The purple dragon counter attacks by drawing one of his shotgun hand guns and starts shooting the rocks as they come. While this was happening Twilight was charging up a spell to capture the drake. Too bad Spike noticed this. While still shooting at the flying rocks he grabs his other gun with his free hand and shoots the ground in front of the purple unicorn. This causes her to fall on her rump and lose focus on her spell. 


Meanwhile on the sidelines 
  

"It appears that Twilight Sparkle and her friends are having a tough time with your student Paar." Luna commented as she continued to watch the fight. Spike was holding his ground against both unicorns with the use of his guns.

"It's to be expected." The ancient dragon said as he watches his student. "He has been taught how to fight by his parents and me since he first learned to walk. And since I tasked him to travel the world he has grown. Getting stronger with every battle and dangerous situation he encounters."

"And it shows old friend. Not many would survive under such conditions." Celestia commented as Rainbow and Applejack joined the fight once again. Pinkie and even Fluttershy was helping their friends by throwing pies and cupcakes at the drake, much to his confusion as to where they got them from. Spike showing great skill as he keeps his attackers at bay. 

"He did more than survive Celestia. He thrives in the battles, danger, and excitement."

"Excuse me sir, but what do you mean by 'dangerous situations'?" Shining Armor asked the wise dragon as he watched the fight. Grateful that Spike was taking great care not to hurt his sister or her friends too much. 

"He has faced dangers that few could even imagine. Spike seems to always get himself in one dangerous situation after another. Even though he complains about it at times he mostly would not change it for anything. Though that is what has me worried." 

"What do you mean?" Shining asked.

"He has spent a good portion of his life going from place to place. It has gotten to the point where I don't think he is capable of staying in one place for more than a few days at the very most if he could help it. He is willing to take a breather and relax but he can't sit still for the life of him. It is as if staying in one place is a death sentence to him. I'm hoping that having him live in Ponyville will change that. To show him that you could see the greatest things in life if you take the time to just stop and look around."

"Indeed old friend. There are times when one must, what do they say now, 'stop and smell the roses' I believe." Luna said. "And it appears this test is nearing its end."


Back to the Fight


'Okay, I'll admit it.' Spike thought to himself as he catches a cupcake in his mouth and eats it as he blocks a kick to his side. All while making sure to focus on the six mares fighting him. Taking in how they fight, how they move, and their varying levels of determination for future references. 'These girls are giving me a better fight than I thought they would. It is starting to get hard for me to hold back as much as I have.' He ducked just in time for a cream pie to it Dash's face instead of his. 'And where in hell did the pies and cupcakes come from?!' Spike grabbed Rainbow while she was getting the whip cream out of her eyes and throws her to Applejack. The two once again collided and ended up in a dazed pile on the floor. 'I think it's time to wrap this up.' Suddenly a blue and purple magic doom appeared around the drake. Spike looked around and saw Rarity and Twilight standing side by side. With their hands and horns covered in a magic aura.

"Is this a conjoint spell?" Spike asked with a mildly impressed look on his face.

Twilight and Rarity smirked at their accomplishment even if they were felling some strain from sustaining the dome. "It is. Since nothing was working we decided to try something different. Though this is our first time trying a conjoint spell."

"Good thinking. If normal tactics don't work trying something creative can often help get you out of a tight spot." The purple dragon said as he experimentally knocked on the magic dome. "And this is pretty decent considering that this is the first time either of you has tried something like this."

"Then I hope you are ready to surrender?" Rarity asked calmly. Though it was easy to tell it was a façade with the amount of sweat on her brow from focusing on the spell.

"Yeah right. Like it is going to be that easy." Spike replied with a fanged smirk on his face. "Quick question, what do you do when you can't go over, around, and aren't willing to go through something?"

"Go under." Twilight answered.

"Exactly." Spike commented with a devious grin. In a blink of an eye the drake sunk into the ground. Leaving a cloud of dust and a hole where he stood.

"How did-" Rarity was about to ask but was cut as her and Twilight's ankles was grabbed by a claw coming from the ground. The two let out a scream as they were pulled down into the ground until everything from their shoulders down was buried. Out of nowhere the wandering dragon shot out of the ground and landed in front of the mares without a speck of dirt on him.

"Let that be a lesson to you two. If you're going to use a magic dome always make sure it covers the bottom as well." Spike lectured.

"This is the worst possible thing EVER!!!" Rarity screeched. "My clothes were hand made by yours truly and now their covered in dirt and probably ripped! Do you know how long it will take me to clean them?!"

"No and I don't really care." Spike blankly stated. "That is why it is a good idea to wear clothes that are sturdy, won't rip easily, and won't get in the way while you fight. I once saw this one mercenary almost choke himself to death because his cape got snagged on a tree branch." The dragon looked around and noticed one pony was missing. "Hey, where did...?"

"SURPRISE!!!" An excited shout come from his left. Spike zipped his head to the side and saw a grinning Pinkie that appeared out of nowhere with her signature party cannon. 

"WHAT THE HE-" *KA-BOOM* Before Spike could finish his cursing Pinkie fired her cannon. An explosion of cake, confetti, and streamers so large that could knock your average person out cold sounded through the area.

"Did I get him?" Pinkie asked. Trying to look through the dust cloud her cannon made. A zap sounded behind her. She turned around to see Spike standing as if nothing had happened.

"Nope, but here's a consolation prize." The dragon took and breathed out a ball of green fire that covered the pink mare, much to the horror of everyone there. Surprisingly the fire and mare turned into a cloud of ashes and embers. It rose into the moved as if it had a mind of its own to the air above Applejack and Rainbow that were slowly getting up. The embers and ashes condensed and an unharmed, confused, dizzy Pinkie appeared. Only to fall on top of her two already sore friends. The three just laid there in a pile groaning while almost everyone else lets out a sign of relief. "I got to say I'm impressed." Spike praised the still dazed pink mare. "You almost had me. Too bad for you my reflexes and magic are quicker than your cannon." Spike was about to say more but he felt a presence behind. He turned around and saw something he didn't expect. He came face to face with a power that few have faced. A power that has made raging beasts fall to their knees. Has made grown men and women feel like scared little kids again.

Spike has found himself on the receiving end of Fluttershy's Stare.

A look of shook spread over his face as he stares into those blue willful eyes. While everyone who knew about the stare thought this was the final blow they needed for their win. They noticed that Spike body started to shake. Then he started to make a strange noise. And finally he did something that should not be possible. Something that no living being has done while being subjected to the Stare.

Spike threw his head back let out a roaring laugh.

Everyone who knew about Futtershy's infamous stare was speechless. Nobody has ever taken the full force of it and not submit to it. The shy mare herself looked at the drake and then her hands in shock and confusion. Wondering to herself if she did something wrong.

"Oh man, this is the biggest surprise yet!" He yelled out as he continued to laugh. "I'm not sure what I should more impressed by. That you of all people know that trick or the fact that you have that much willpower in you." Strangely enough his tone wasn't mocking or insulting. It was filled with genuine amazement and intrigue. "And here I thought I would have a tough time training you. If you have that much backbone inside than this might be easier than I thought. Here is a little tip bit for you. The Will Stare only works on those with weaker willpower than you." He then gave her a Stare of his own. One that was more powerful than hers. Fluttershy found herself becoming stiff as a statue. "Now, why don't you go over there and help your friends while I dig these two out. The test is over." The mare rapidly nodded her head and flew off to help Pinkie Applejack, and Rainbow back onto their hoofs. He turned his attention to the buried unicorns. Spike lifted his leg and stomped the ground. Causing the small tremor and the two mares shot out of the dirt. Their clothes a bit dirty but otherwise fine, much to Rarity's displeasure. After Fluttershy helped the rest of the Elements up they made their way to the Princesses, dragon, and guards. 

"So Spike, what do you think about the Elements of Harmony's abilities?" Spike's teacher asked.

"Well they put up a better fight than I thought they would but they still have a long way to go before they are up to my standards." Spike replied. He quickly took a thoughtful expression on his face. "I already have soon ideas and plans on what kind of stuff I'm going to teach Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. Though I'm going to have to do some thinking and experimenting to find fighting styles and or weapons that will be a good match for Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie."

"I'm sure that all of you will do well." Celestia said with a pleasant smile on her face. "I can tell that all of you are tired from the test so I'll teleport you all to Ponyville."

"Before you send us away when will I expect that permit so I can set up my place?" Spike asked.

"We should have it in a day or so. How much land do you need?"

"Large enough for a two story castle and a massive backyard that I can use as a training ground."

"Considering Ponyville isn't that big of a town it should be easy to find enough land that fit your location requirements. However it will most likely be on the outskirts of town."

"I'm okay with that." The purple drake replied. He then turned his attention to his teacher. 

"Take care Spike, may Akatosh watch over you." Paar said as be bids farewell to his student.

"You too Teach." Paar's student said with a calm smile. "Don't be afraid to send me a letter if you need me."

"Take care my little ponies." The Princess of the Sun said and in a flash everyone was outside of the Golden Oaks Library. After getting over the sudden teleportation everyone said their goodbyes and went to their respective homes. Leaving only Twilight and Spike to stand in front of the library.

"So where is your place?" Spike asked the purple mare.

"We're standing in front of it." Twilight answered.

"Wait, you live...in a library." The drake asked with an raised scaly eyebrow.

"I know! Isn't great?" The mare answered with stars in her eyes. Causing Spike to label her as a bookworm in his head.

"Please tell you have a guest room or something?"

"Oh don't worry I do."

"That a relief. Now than let’s get inside. I want to get settled." The Wanderer relied as he open his door and went inside with Twilight behind him.

"Wait don't you need extra clothes and other things?" The mare asked. Only seeing the clothes he is wearing, his weapons, and the book bag.

"Don't worry. I got everything I need right here." The drake assured as he pats his book bag.

"If you say so. Since we will spend some time living together I want to set out the ground rules while you are staying here." From there Twilight went on and on about the rules of the library, how things should be done, and a lot of other stuff that Spike honestly didn't give two shits about. As Twilight went on about how books should be organized in over doing it way one though went through his mind.

'Thank Akatosh I getting my own place. No way in hell I'll be able to stand living with her full time.' 

> A Morning with a Dragon Edited
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Third-Person P.O.V.

It was a very early morning in Ponyville. Celestia's sun was just appearing over the horizon. In the guest room of Golden Oaks Library, a large figure was laying curled-up on top of the bed, completely covered by a blanket, and loudly snoring in a peaceful sleep. On the floor was a black and green book bag and a large claymore leaning against the wall. Both items were placed easily within reach of the bed. On a nearby nightstand, a digital alarm clock changed it's screen to 6:00 a.m.. Doing it's programmed duty, it came alive with a loud, monotone beeping...

*Beep...* *Beep...* *Beep...* *BOOM*

...only to be blasted to pieces by a double barrel, hand-held shotgun. The barrels of the gun smoke as it was held by a clawed hand rising out of the cover. Both the hand and the gun soon disappear under the blanket and the snoring continued. Thirty minutes later, the door opened to reveal a dressed and wide awake Twilight. "Good morning Spike," She said in a cheery tone.

*Grunt* That was the drake's reply.

"Don't be like that Spike. It's the start of a beautiful day, and the start of your time here in Ponyville." She said as she walked over to the bed with a smile on her face.

The dragon in question finally moved the blanket and sat up. He stared at Twilight with a blank look on his face while sitting in his long-sleeved night shirt. "Listen Twilight,' Spike started. 'Since we're going to spend some time living together I want to make one thing clear right now. I'm not a morning person. Until it's at least nine o' clock or I have at least one cup of coffee, I'm likely to shoot anyone or anything that gets on my nerves." Spike stated. The response dampened Twilight's good mood. When the dragon saw this, he sighed and decided to give her something that would cheer her up and get her out of his scales for a few hours. "Since you're up you can start studying a new spell that I want you to learn." That put a smile back on Twilight's face as she cheered like a grade school filly. Spike rolled his eyes, though he had a small smile on his face, and reached inside of his book bag. He pulled out a small book and handed it to Twilight. The book had a gold-yellow leather binding with a symbol that looked like a bird on the cover. 

"What kind of spell is it?" Twilight was already reading the book's contents. 

"It's a beginner level self-healing spell that I want you and Rarity to learn. It shouldn't take either of you more than a day or two at most to learn it. While it's only good for minor injuries and stuff, it is a good place to start getting into the School of Restoration." Spike laid back down and covered himself with his blanket again.

"'School of Restoration'? What is that?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll cover it in the lecture I'm going to give you girls later. Now can you please let me sleep?"

"Sure," Twilight stated with her nose in the book as she left the room. She was about to close the door when she remembered something. "Hey Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened to the alarm clock that was in this room?"

"I shot it."

"...Why?"

"Because it woke me up."

"...Okay. Anyway have a nice rest."

*Snore*

And with that Twilight closed the door and turned her attention back to the book in her hand. It was time for one of her favorite past times... learning a new spell.

------------------------------------------------

Twilight's P.O.V.

I was reading the new book Spike had given me. While it is a pretty simple spell it can be pretty useful. After reading the book, I understood why Spike wanted me and Rarity to learn it. Though it's different from any spells that I know off. Most, if not all, the Unicorn spells in Equestria use similar formulas at their base. This spell's base formula is complete different from what I'm use to. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle, but still. Maybe this spell is a Dragon healing spell? It would make sense since he did use magic when he tested us in that fight. The book also briefly mentioned other more advanced spells, but it doesn't mention where I can find out more about them. And what was Spike talking about when he mentioned the 'School of Restoration'? Maybe a type of magic that's foreign to Equestria? I would ask him right now but I'm afraid I would end up like the alarm clock in his room. 

I decided that for the moment I should focus on learning this spell. After a few hours, I was able to do it with some focus. With time and practice I should be able to do it without much effort. I suddenly heard a loud yawn upstairs, probably Spike finally waking up. The drake in question got out of the room and went down the stairs towards where I was sitting. He was wearing a white long sleeve shirt and black sweatpants. The weird this is that his gun holsters were strapped to his pants. I couldn't help but ask myself, 'Did he go sleep with those things on?'

"Hey Spike, feeling better now?" I asked with a smile.

"For the most part," The drake replied as he stretched his body. "How's that spell coming along?"

"Pretty good. I should have it down pat by the end of the day."

"That's good. So what are our plans for the day?"

"Well I was thinking about going out for breakfast and showing you around town. Maybe see if we can meet up with the girls later today."

"Sounds like a plan, besides I want to tell the six of you what I have planned for your training. Just give me a minute to wash up and get dressed." And with that, he walked back upstairs and into his room. I turn my attention back to learning this new spell as I daydream of all the new kinds of magic I'm going to learn in the future.

--------------------------------------------------

Spike's P.O.V.

I gathered my things and went into the bathroom that was connected to the guest room I was sleeping in. I put my sword against a wall, unstrapped my guns, and put them next to the bathroom sink next to my bag. I reached into my book bag and pulled out a fresh set of my usual clothes and small bag to put my night clothes in. I take off my clothes and put them away, revealing my scar-covered body to the world. Slashes, stabs, bite marks, bullet wounds, and more, thank Akatosh for magic and thick scales. Let it be known that being a badass isn't easy. When I look at all my scars and remember how I got them, I can't help but wonder how the hell I'm still alive. I'm honestly surprised that I didn't get any scars on my face after everything I've been through. I've always had mixed feelings about them. On the one hand, these are proof of my trials and hardships; I had been taught that a scar earned in battle isn't something I shouldn't be ashamed of. On the other hand, if anyone who isn't a fighter saw these, I would get looks of shock, disgust, or sympathy. I have no problem with the first, and anyone that has the second I would just flip them the bird, but I can't stand the last. I don't need a pity party. That's why I prefer to cover my scars when I'm around civilians.

I stepped into the shower and turned on the water. As I started to wash my body, I went over what kind of training I was going to give those girls in my mind. First order of business is to give them information on the different types of magic and powers that can be found in our world. Then, investigate the magic of the non-Unicorns and find out what kind of powers they possess. Hopefully Pinkie and or Applejack can learn Earthbending, though it will most likely be Applejack who has the potential to learn it. It feels like it would be a good match for her. After messing around with their magic for a bit, I can start on their physical training. Applejack and Rainbow Dash will be the easiest in that regard while Rarity and Twilight will probably have a problem with it. Having them wear some enchanted gravity weights will be a good place to start. When they all get into decent shape I'll teach them the art of free running. I'll plan the rest as we go along.

Thankfully, this isn't my first time taking on students so I at least have some idea of what I'm doing. Funnily enough, my first students were a Pegasus mare and her Unicorn daughter. I met them while they were going on adventures with this Earth Pony who was a lot more than meets the eye. After going on this adventure with them I decided to join them for while. After I got to know them, they asked me to teach them how to fight. Apparently the three of them would often get into dangerous situations and the two girls didn't want the burden the Earth Pony who can take care of himself. I will admit that it was a bit of a challenge. The Pegasus was very clumsy and the unicorn wasn't old enough for most of the physical training that I was taught. After a year of training, I taught them everything I could and it was up to them to grow and learn for themselves. The last time I met up with them, they had grown quite strong; maybe not S-rank like me, but they're strong enough to be able to stand their ground against some pretty strong opponents. I wonder where or when those three are now?

I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. After I dried myself and brushed my teeth, I put my clothes for the day on. I wasn't exactly looking forward to the tour around town. This isn't my first time in Equestria and my other visits hadn't always been very pleasant. I've faced my fair share of discrimination in my time and, depending on where you are going, Equestria is one of the most racist nations for anyone who's not a Earth Pony, Unicorn, or Pegasus. In places like Canterlot, racism is at it's finest due to the nobles who live there, while in places like Manehatten, you have many different races living there but discrimination is still present, though admittedly a lot less than in Canterlot. Hopefully, since Ponyville is out in the sticks, I won't have any problems. The last thing I need is to kick someone's ass for starting something with me because I'm a dragon on my first day here. I sigh to myself as I put my weapons on and put my bag on my shoulder.

"Well, might as well get this over with," I said to myself as I opened the door. "If I can take on the World Eater and live, then this will be a frigging breeze." 

> A Walk Around Town and an Old Friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight's P.O.V.

Spike and I stepped out of the library. I took a moment to breathe in the crisp morning air and to feel the warmth of the morning sun. I was snapped out of my morning bliss when I heard a noise behind me. I turned around and saw Spike scratching something into the wood of the library near the door with his claw. After he was done, he puts his palm to whatever he carved into the tree and a there was a flash of green magic. When he pulled his hand away, I tried to see what he did, but whatever he was doing was gone. Though I was able to hear him mutter to himself, "Warp Point set."

"What are you doing Spike?" I asked the dragon.

"It's nothing you have to worry about," he said, waving away my concerns as he put on his sunglasses. "So, what's the plan for this tour?"

"Well, I was thinking that we visit my friends first and see if we can't all meet up later today," I suggested. 

"Sounds good. Also, it will give me a chance to know where my new students live as well as explain some of the stuff I'm going to teach you girls." Spike said, after giving the idea some thought.

"Okay, let’s go." With that, the two of us made our way through town. Though the walk wasn't as relaxing as I thought it would be; this was because of two things. First, Spike was getting a lot of attention from everypony nearby. Some was out of the simple curiosity of seeing a new face, some was out of worry, and the smallest bit was out of fear. The second thing was Spike himself. He just felt so tense, always on guard, as if he was expecting somepony to attack him out of nowhere. I was able to glance at his face at just the right angle to see through his glasses. His eyes were slowly shifting from side to side, as if he was looking for any possible danger. I couldn't help but feel tense with the mood around him. Thankfully, Rarity's boutique came in sight, and along with it a chance to get rid of some of Spike's tension. 

The two of us opened the door only to hear the chime of the bell on the door before we heard Rarity say, "Just a minute~" in the back room. After a minute or two, the fashionista herself entered the room. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where- Twilight! Spike! What brings you two here?"

"Twilight here," Spike started as he pointed his thumb towards me, "was showing me around town and this was the first stop."

"And I was hoping that you and the rest of the girls could meet up with us later for lunch or something," I said.

"That sounds like a marvelous idea Twilight. Business has been a touch slow lately, so I'll be free this afternoon," Rarity said after thinking about her plans for the day.

"Great! We're going to see about getting the others," I said with a smile.

"Before we do all that can we get some breakfast first?" Spike asked me. "I'm starving."

"Sure. I know the perfect place. Plus, its also where Pinkie lives and works," I replied.

"Works for me. As long as I get some food in my gut," Spike made his way outside while saying, "Later Rarity."

"Bye Rarity," I said as I followed the drake.

"Bye darlings," Rarity said as she went back to her work room.

I followed Spike outside just in time to see him put his hand near on the door frame and produce another quick flash of magic. After he was finished, he turned towards me and said, "Lead the way." 

I was even more curious as to what he was doing, but Spike seems to be the type of dragon that won't say anything unless he wants to. With a nod, I led him towards Sugarcube Corner, while pointing out a few key places along the way. Unfortunately, it seems like both the looks we were getting and Spike's tension wasn't going to go away anytime soon. We soon found ourselves standing in front of Sugarcube Corner with Spike staring at the building.

"Is it strange that I want to take a bite out of the place just to see if it's really a giant gingerbread house or not?" Spike asked.

"Not really," I said. Thinking back, I had thought the same thing when I first saw the building.

"And are the people who own or work here witches or something?" Well, that question came a bit out of nowhere.

"Umm, no. Why do you ask?"

"I just remembered a story I heard from these two witch hunters I met once after a job," Spike said with a shrug. "So, who works here?"

"Pinkie, she also lives here."

"Well, that would explain the constant sugar high," Spike said as he made his way to the door with me right behind him. "Anyways, let’s get some grub."

As soon as we entered, most of the ponies stopped whatever they were doing in favor of looking at us, or more specifically, Spike. I couldn't help but flinch at the stares, but Spike looked like he wasn't even bothered by them. Though before we could even take a step towards the counter, we were surprised by Pinkie.

"HEY GUYS!!!" she yelled, appearing out of nowhere behind us. I practically jumped out of my skin; Spike's reaction however was a bit more...violent. His arm snapped out behind him, grabbed Pinkie by her shirt, and threw her over his shoulder and across the room. Faster than my eyes could see his other hand had one of his gun out and pointed at Pinkie who was leaning against the wall upside down with her eyes somehow rolling around in opposite directions. Everypony froze, myself included, at what just happened. Though we were snapped out of it by Spike.

"Ah fuck," the drake said as he quickly made his way to Pinkie while putting his gun away. "Sorry about that Pinkie, but you shouldn't surprise people like that, and I'm the last dragon you want to startle." He pulled Pinkie up with no effort at all and set the pink mare down on her hoofs while making sure she was steady. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Pinkie said with a big smile with her eyes back to normal. Seeing that she was fine, Spike lets go of the mare. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're here to get some breakfast, and to see if you're free later today around lunch," I said, getting her attention. "Spike wants to go over what he is going to teach us later."

"Sure! I can get the rest of the day off after the breakfast rush is over," she said. "Anyways, let’s get you guys something to eat." She grabbed mine and Spike's arms and quickly dragged us to a free table. As soon as we were seated, Pinkie handed us menus and took out a notepad and a pencil out of nowhere. "What can I get you guys?"

"I'll just have my usual," I said without even opening the menu and handing it back to her.

"Okie Dokie Lokie, one banana nut muffin with a cup of raspberry tea for you," Pinkie said, while writing my order down. We both turned to Spike, whom was still looking over the menu. "What about you Spike?"

The drake closed the menu and handed it back to Pinkie saying, "I'll have two large cinnamon crumble muffins, a cup of coffee, and a large handful of vanilla cream packets with a couple of hazelnut cream packets as well."

"Right, be back in a giffy!" Pinkie said, after she wrote his order down and hopped her way into the kitchen. We were left in an awkward silence, or at least I was. 

Spike looked around the shop and at some of the looks he was getting. It was safe to assume that he wasn't going to start a conversation anytime, soon so I decided to take the initiative.

"So…Spike, what do you think of Ponyville?" I asked, trying to get the ball rolling. 

"It looks like it's a nice place to live. Personally, I'm a bit more of a city person, but small towns like these have their charms," Spike answered.

"That’s good to here. So where did you live before?"

"Well, I have a house in a secluded part of the Northern Mountains in the Dragon Empire. Though in all honesty, I barely spend any time there due to all the missions I get and spend most of my time traveling around. I usually only stay there for a week at the very most to either take a break or to drop off the stuff I picked up in my travels. What about you? Your Princess Celesita's student, and yet you live pretty far from Canterlot." 

"Well, the thing is that I used to live in Canterlot, but Princess Celestia wanted me to oversee the 1000th Summer Solstice Celebration here in Ponyville, even though I didn't want to. While here, I met the girls and they tried to be friends with me. The funny thing was that I didn't want to make any friends; I just wanted to get the celebration ready so I could study about Nightmare Moon's return. After Nightmare Moon showed up, they went with me of their own free will to go into the Everfree Forest to find the Elements of Harmony and stop Nightmare Moon. It took the six of us working together to reach our destination and use the Elements." As I explained to Spike, a smile grew on my face as the memories flowed through my mind.

"Okay, but why did you stay? After everything was said and done, you could have gone back to Conterlot. I know that you probably became friends with the other Elements thanks to what happened, but why choose to stay with people you barely knew for a day over old friends you probably have back in Canterlot?"

"That's the thing…I never had any friends back in Canterlot," I said sadly.

"Really?" At my nod, he continued. "Were you bullied or something?"

"No, it wasn't that. I just…just had no interest in making friends. Back in Canterlot, I was only interested in books, studying, and learning about magic. I always thought that friends would just distract me from my studies. But after I met Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, that all changed. They showed me just how great friendship can be. That's why I stayed. So I can be close to my friends and learn the magic of friendship," I explained happily, my smile growing.

"Well, I'm not sure about the whole 'Friendship is magic' thing, but I will admit that it can be powerful," Spike said. He lifted his sunglasses to his forehead so he could look me right in the eyes. "Friends, allies, comrades, everyone needs at least one of these in their lives. There isn't a being in existence that doesn't need the aid of another in one sense or another. I will the first to admit that I'm not the friendliest or most trusting person in the world. I'm a bit of a loner. Plus, I prefer to do things on my own and take care of my problems by myself, if I can. Or in some people's opinion, I'm usually too stubborn to admit that I need help. However, during my travels, I've made a lot of friends that I make sure to keep in touch with as much as I can. I personally believe that a person should be able to take care of themselves, but there is nothing wrong with asking for help from time to time. I help my friends and my friends help me. As strong as I am, they've even saved my life a few times." 

"That's an interesting way of thinking about friendship," I said, after giving what the dragon said some thought. "So what kind of stuff do you plan to teach us?"

"That would spoil the surprise. But I will say this much," A sinister, unsettling grin spread across his face; the fact that he has of rows razor sharp fangs didn't exactly help. "we’re going to have a lot of fun. Or at least I will." For some reason a dark chill went up my spine.

"Umm, you are a good guy...right?" I couldn't help but sound like Fluttershy when I asked him that question.

"Define 'good'." Before I could even think of a reply, Pinkie once again appeared out of nowhere with our orders.

"Order u-!" She stopped due to Spike stopping himself from backhanding Pinkie in her face. His shaking fist was just a few centimeters away from her nose.

"AKATOSH DAMN IT PINKIE," Spike yelled, pulling away his fist before anypony else noticed. "I've told you before, don't do that! More importantly, how do you keep doing that?!"

"Do what?" Pinkie asked as if she didn't come extremely close to getting hit in the face.

"How do you keep sneaking up on me without me sensing you?!" Spike clarified. "The only way you could do that is either you can teleport without making any noise or give off any magic, or you're a master ninja!"

"I don't know how I do the things I do," Pinkie answered with a shrug as she put our respective orders in front of us. "I just do them."

Spike spent a couple of seconds opening and closing his mouth while trying to make sense of Pinkie. After about a minute, he settles with a facepalm and a sigh. "Ten years ago, I would probably be going on a rant right now; but after all the crazy, unexplainable things I've seen or been through, I'm just going to let this go." 

After he said that, he grabbed one of his muffins and started eating it. With his free hand, he digs into his book bag and grabs two very nice looking garnets. He tosses them to Pinkie saying, "That should be enough to pay for the both of us right?" At Pinkie's happy nod he says, "Good, and keep the change."

We ate our breakfast in silence. Though I couldn't help but stare at Spike as he ate his large muffins in a few bites and put every ounce of cream he was given into his coffee, even though it was almost to the point of overflowing. When I asked him about it, he just said, "A dragon can't have a sweet tooth?" 

After we finished our meals, we said our goodbyes to Pinkie—Spike put his sunglasses back over his eyes—and left the building. Spike, once again, carved something into the side of the door and made it disappear. As we made our way towards Rainbow Dash's house, somebody above us yelled, "Heads up!"

We both looked to see a grey Pegasus coming at us with a dive bomb kick aimed at Spike! Spike was able to block it with his forearm, but the force caused his feet to leave indents in the ground. The dragon pushed the kick away and the pegasus, that I now realized was Ditzy Doo, flipped into the air and landed on her hooves. The two just stared at each other while everypony was looking at the commotion.

"Good to see that you're still kicking Ditzy." Spike said with a casual smile, as if being attacked out of nowhere is an everyday thing for him. "How long has it been for you since the last time we saw each other?"

"About half a year for me." Ditzy answers with a happy smile on her face. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans with a simple bluish grey shirt. "How have you been?"

"Same old stuff, though I've taken on some more students. I'll be in town while I teach them. What about you? Where are Doc and Dinky, and what kind of trouble are you guys in this time?"

"No trouble this time, we actually live in Ponyville. The Doctor is tinkering with the TARDIS and Dinky is at school."

"Really? That’s great, at least now I have a sparring partner, and you can help me train the Elements," Spike said. He then went into some kind of fighting pose. His legs spread out—as if he was ready to pounce—with his left arm in front, the forearm covering the lower half of his face. His right hand was reared back to his hip, with both claws out ready to tear something. "Let's see if you've been practicing your hand to hand fighting like I told you to."

Ditzy's smile turn competitive as she got into her own fight stance. One leg was bended in front of the other, and her right arm was placed straight forward while her left is pulled back, leveled with her shoulder. "Ready whenever you are, master.”
> The Senior Student
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

3rd-Person P.O.V.

The tension in the air was thick to everyone, except for the two that are about to fight. The dragon and pegasus stare at each other with excited smiles and fire in their eyes. Twilight stood off to the side in the middle of the two fighters. The purple unicorn was wondering how the two knew each other and how did things come to this.

“Hey, Twilight,” Twilight looked up to see Rainbow Dash hovering over her head. “What's going on here?”

“I really don't know. That mare came out of nowhere and attacked Spike.” Twilight replied. “Do you know who she is?”

“That's Derpy, the town's mailmare.”

“Is she strong?”

“I've never seen her fight, but no way is she strong.” Rainbow said rolling her eyes. The mere thought of the gray mare being able to do something she couldn't was crazy, or at least in her mind it was. “She was a disaster just waiting to happen. She had gotten a lot less clumsy though. I think it's because she got her eyes fixed, or something.”


(I don't own the music or the video.)



The one to make the first move was Spike. He charged at the mare opened with a left claw backhand. Ditzy simply took a step back to avoid the attack and knocked away the right straight that came after it. Ditzy responded with a one-two palm thrust. The first was dodged while the other was blocked with a forearm. Spike tried to go in with a right hook, but it was knocked away. The mailmare countered with a strong palm strike to the chest. Spike felt the wind getting knocked out of him, but saw an opening. The drake sent a hard kick the mare's side, causing her to flinch. She wasn't fast enough to dodge the punch coming at her, so she tried to block by crossing her arms. The blow sent her skidding back a couple of feet. Thankfully, she was still standing.

“I see that you have finally gotten use to pouring your magicka into your body,” Spike commented. 

“Yeah, it took me a while, but I finally got the hang of it,” Ditzy replied as she tried to shake the pain from her arms. “Though, even if I am strengthening, my body deflects your hits.”

“Too bad, it's about to get worse,” Spike grinned as he charged at the mare. She ducked under a punch and tried to deliver a palm uppercut. The dragon leaned his head backwards to avoid it and took the chance to send his knee into the pegasus's stomach. Spike went for a straight left punch; Ditzy managed to spin away and went to deliver an elbow to Spike's temple. The wanderer blocked with his wing just in time and pushed the mare back with it. He jumped into the air to give the mare an ax drop kick to her head. Ditzy jumped back to avoid the kick, once the blow hits the ground it caused it to give a quick shake and send up a cloud of dust.

Ditzy saw this as her chance to land a powerful hit on the drake with the dust cloud blocking his eyesight. She charged at him and unleashed a powerful palm thrust aimed at the dragon's face. By the time Spike saw her hand speeding towards him he couldn't dodge, or block fast enough. So, he pulled his head back head and thrust it forward so that her palm slammed into his forehead inside of his nose. The impact blew away the dust cloud and caused everyone, except Spike to wince at it. It was times like this that Spike was glad that he had a hard head. While the mare was trying to shake the pain away from her hand, her feet was knocked out from under her due to a swing of Spike's tail. Ditzy rolled away from a Spike's stomp and flipped herself back onto her hooves. The two stared at each other for a second before charging into battle once more.


Meanwhile on the Sidelines


Everyone stared in awe as the new dragon in town and the local mailmare fought each other with a level of skill most of them had never seen before. A lot of the blows were moving so fast they were having a tough time keeping track of them. Though, none were more stunned than Twilight and Rainbow Dash, seeing how they learned firsthand just how tough Spike is. To see that someone was able to stand their ground against him was a real eye opener.

“W-what the heck?!” Rainbow asked in complete disbelief. “How can klutzy Derpy be this awesome?! All six of us together couldn't even touch Spike and yet here she is landing one blow after the other!” As if to prove the stunt mare's point, Ditzy lands an elbow thrust into Spike's chest.

“I think it's because that mare is one of Spike's students,” Twilight answered. She winced when Spike head-butted the mare and sent a jump kick to her chest. ‘Is this the kind of training he has in store for us?’ She thought to herself. “I heard her call him master.”

“Oh, man, if he can turn Derpy into a badass just imagine what he can do for us!” Rainbow said. Her eyes practically sparkled as she fell into her daydreams. The unicorn shook her head at her friend's antics and turned back to the fight. It looks like that the two ended up in a grapple match with their hands gripping the others. One trying to overpower the other and from the looks of it Spike was easily winning.

Back to the Fight

“Come on, Ditzy,” Spike said to the mare, trying to give the mare a chance. “Remember, if you're stuck in a bad situation like this, think outside the box.”

“You mean like this?” Ditzy asked. She sent her first kick of the fight to the side of the dragon's knee. When Spike's knee buckled she puts all of her strength and magic into her arms. To the amazement of everyone she lifts the large dragon into the air. Ditzy bends her body into a supplex position to slam Spike into the ground behind her. Too bad Spike managed to solidly land on his feet. In their awkward position, with their hands grasping each other, Dizty's face was one of shock while Spike had a cocky smirk on his face.

“Yeah, something like that,” Spike said as his smirk grew larger. “Against anyone else that might have worked.” In an amazing show of strength Spike stood up from his position, lifted the mare off of her hooves, and threw her over his head. When the mare stopped tumbling Spike said, “Too bad for you I'm pretty good at staying on my feet.”

Ditzy was covered in scratches from her road rash when she got back on her hooves. However, the fire in her eyes hadn't lessened. With a battle cry, she charged the drake with her arm pulled back for a massive palm strike. Spike answered her charge with one of his own and pulled back his own arm for a punch. When the two were in arm's reach of each other the two different blows collided against each other. It produced a shockwave that created the dust cloud around the two. Everyone covered their eyes to protect themselves from the cloud. When the dust settled, they saw that the two still in the same pose. Spike had the same cocky smirk while Ditzy's face was twisted in pain. In a cry that was something akin to a groan and a yell she fell to her knees while clutching her hand.


(End Music)


“Okay,” Ditzy muttered through her clenched teeth. “Not one of my best ideas.”

“With me involved, it wasn't,” Spike said. He raised his hand that was covered in gold light. There was a humming sound before he pointed his hand at the mare. The light surrounded the mare and all of her cuts and bruises healed in a matter of seconds. “It doesn't mean you didn't put up a good fight. It looks like we're going to have to work on your pain tolerance though,” the dragon said as he helped the mare back up. Seeing the show was over everypony went back to what they were doing, except Twilight and Rainbow Dash. The two mares walked up to the fighters hoping to get some information.

“That was awesome!” Rainbow said getting the mailmare and dragon's attention. “How did you learn to fight like that?” She asked Ditzy.

“It was all because of Spike,” Ditzy said with a smile. “A few years back he took my daughter Dinky and I under his wing and taught us how to fight.”

“I didn't do that much,” Spike said modestly. “I was only with them for a year so I just taught them about their gifts, how to use them and how to defend themselves. I spent most of my time beating most of the clumsy out of Ditzy here and I couldn't teach Dinky a lot because she was either too young at the time, or Ditzy wouldn't let me.”

“That's because you keep trying to teach her dangerous things,” Ditzy replied as she gave the dragon an annoyed glare. “Besides, who gives a nine year old a sword?!”

“Oh, come on, I still don't see what the big deal is. You didn't seem to mind too much when I taught her how to use firebolts and summon her first familiar. Besides, I got my first sword when I was seven,” Spike commented. “By the way, Dinky is thirteen now, right?”

“She's going to be thirteen, why?” Ditzy asked. She really didn't like that grin on her master's face.

“You do remember your promise to both Dinky and I right?” It took a minute, but she remembered the promise she made, one that she was instantly regretting. Spike took the look of growing horror on her face as a sign that she remembers. “That's right. As soon as Dinky turns thirteen I can start on her physical and weapon training.”

Ditzy wanted to find some way out of this, but she knew that once Spike got like this it was almost impossible to talk him out of it. “Fine, but make sure you go easy on her.”

“I can't make that promise, but I will promise that I'll take as many safety precisions as I can while doing so.”

The mare stared at the dragon before letting out a sigh. “Well, that's probably the best I'm going to get from you, so okay.”

The drake nodded before looking towards two of his new students. “Anyway, I'm glad that you came Rainbow. Are you free around noon? I need to talk to all six of you about what I'm going to teach you guys and the kind of training I got planned. I already got Rarity and Pinkie on board.”

“Yeah, I'm free today. I can go to Fluttershy's and ask her in ten seconds flat if you want,” Rainbow said.

“Sure, we'll head over to Applejack's place in the meantime,” Spike replied. The rainbow mane mare nodded her head and flew far into the sky. Once she was out of sight, the dragon turned his attention to the purple unicorn. “Lead the way Twilight.”

The mare nodded her head and led the dragon to Sweet Apple Acres with Ditzy tagging along. As the two got caught on with the current events, the unicorn strained to hear the conversation. She had hoped to get a bit more insight and information on the dragon she was going to learn from and live with. Sadly, she could only make out a few things since they talked with hidden meaning and never really explaining anything. Only that Spike getting close to being able to use a ‘Shout,’ or something and that Dinky was doing extremely well with her ‘Conjuration Training’. They soon found themselves walking past one apple tree after another.

“We're almost there,” Twilight said to Spike the dragon was busy taking in all the apple trees around him. “AJ's house is up ahead.”

“That’s good,” Spike replied. “Man, this is a pretty big farm. Does Applejack take care of this by herself?”

“No. She gets help from her big brother, Big Mac, little sister, Applebloom, and grandmother, Granny Smith. Plus, she gets a few hired help from some of the other ponies in town.”

“Okay, but how do they get anything done? That shouldn't be enough people to harvest all of these apples by hand without at least some kind of help from a machine, or something.”

“That because they don't do it by hand. They all hit the tree, which causes the apples to fall. Well, everyone, except Applejack, she prefers to kick them.”

“She kicks the apples down from the trees?” Twilight just nodded her head. “Well that explains why her kick was so strong even though she didn't have any real training pumping magicka into her body.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I'll tell you later,” As the party of three got closer to the house, they saw the Apple siblings at work.

Applejack saw the trio coming and gave them a friendly greeting. “Howdy ya'll. What brings ya here?” The other two siblings noticed the group and took an interest in the new face.

“Hi, Applejack,” Twilight greeted back. “We're just seeing if you’re free today? Spike is going to do go over what he is going to teach us.”

“I'll do it in a little bit. I just need to apple buck a few trees before I leave,” she said.

“I might be able to help with that,” Spike said.

“And who are you?” The yellow filly asked. The red mane filly was wearing a yellow shirt under a pair of blue overalls along with her signature bow in her hair.

“Name's Spike,” Spike answered. “I'm staying in town while I'm teaching Applejack, Twilight, and their friends some new things. Who are you?”

“I'm Applejack's sis, Applebloom,” she introduced herself. She than pointed towards the large red stallion in the red shirt and jeans. “And he's Big Macintosh, our brother.”

“Yo,” Spike greeted the stallion with a two finger salute. The quiet stallions nodded his head in reply. Spike than walked to a group of trees with ripe red apples and baskets under them. “Are these it?”

“Them the ones,” Applejack answered. The dragon looked at the trees before closing his eyes. He took a deep breath while calming raising his leg. He stomped the ground cause a strong and sharp earthquake. The trees shook violently; it caused the apple to fall from their branches to either the baskets or the ground below. Applebloom and Big Mac's jaws practically fell to the floor at what they just saw. Applejack and Twilight were not nearly shocked seeing how they've already had an idea of what he was capable of. Though, they were still impressed by Spike’s abilities. When Twilight glanced at Ditzy, she saw the bored look on the gray mare's face. That made Twilight even more curious about just her new teacher and senior can really do.

“Well, what are you guys waiting for?” Spike asked. Twilight got out of her thoughts and saw that the dragon was picking up the apples that didn't fall into the baskets. “These things aren't going to pick themselves up.” Everyone went to work picking up the apple and putting them away in the baskets. After that was done, the dragon looked at the sun's position and saw it was around noon. “I think it's time to round up everyone up for that talk I promised. Let's get Pinkie first then-” Before he could finish he was interrupted by none other than Pinkie, once again laughing in the face of physics by appearing out of nowhere.

“Here I am!” *ZAP*

Only to be paralyzed by a spell from the purple dragon. Spike face-clawed himself when he realized his mistake. While he was doing that, Pinkie fell on her side stiff as a statue, her arms above her head and a wide smile on her face. The only thing she could do was move her eyes.

“Aw, shit,” Spike cursed. “Okay, either you have to stop doing that, or I have to get used to you. Otherwise I'm going to accidentally blast you into the hospital one of these days.”

“Umm, is she going to be okay?” Twilight asked. The ponies gathered around their stiff friend, looking down at her with worried looks on their faces.

“She'll be fine,” Spike waved away their concern. “It's just a paralyzing spell. It will wear off in a minute or two.” The dragon picked the mare up and threw her on his shoulder as if the party mare was a plank of wood. “Come on, let's get the others.”

With Pinkie and Applejack in tow, Spike, Twilight, and Ditzy went off to gather the rest of the Elements. Spike carved something into the front gate at the farm. Applejack was about to throttle him for damaging it, but her temper cooled when Spike made the craving disappear. Though, she wasn't happy that Spike wouldn't tell them what he was doing and he made sure that Ditzy didn't spill the beans. On the way to Rarity's store, they ran into Rainbow Dash and a reluctant Fluttershy. After getting the fashionista mare, the group went into a nearby field. With a raise of Spike's claw, eight stumps made from solid rock, popped out of the ground to form a circle.

Once everyone was seated, Spike asked the Element Bearers, “Before we begin I want to ask you all a question. Which race can use magic?”

“In a sense every race can do magic,” Twilight answered as her academic side took over. “Every living being has magic within their bodies. A pegasus instinctually use it to help them fly, allow them to walk on clouds, and control the weather. Earthponies do the same to increase their strength, speed, stamina, and often use to help grow crops and fertilize the soil. Only unicorns and alicorns can use their magic to its fullest due to their horns on our heads acting as a conduit of sorts,” she signs after her explanation and gives Spike a strong-willed look. “Or at least I thought so until we met you.”

“Hmm?” Spike silently questioned Twilight. He had crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow. He would have looked innocent if it wasn't for the smirk on his face.

“All the things I've seen you do, from teleporting to creating these stone seats, there is no possible way for you to be able to do those things without using magic of your own,” Twilight stated. It caused the drake to chuckle.

“Got it in one,” Spike applauded the mare. “You're right in just about everything except for one thing.”

“Which is?” Twilight asked. Every mare except Ditzy was curious about what he had to say. Spike raised his hand and a green fireball appeared out of nowhere and floated half an inch above his palm. He sent a nod towards Ditzy who returned the gesture. From her hand, a ball of water, the size of a baseball, formed above her hand. The Elements of Harmony stared at the two in awe at what they accomplished, more so Ditzy than Spike.

With a grin on his face Spike answered, “That only unicorns and alicorns can use their magic to their fullest. They aren't, it's just much easier for them than others,” He did away with the fireball and Ditzy followed his example. “Everyone has the potential to use magic, or magicka. They just have to unlock to use it to their fullest. Once their magic is unlocked, an earthpony can take on a unicorn in a magic fight. Though, usually no one has wide range of different kinds of magic that a unicorn, or an alicorn has. Every being can get different power, or powers, either way, there is no real limit to what kind of powers a person can end up having. Ditzy here can control water, I've seen a griffon with the power to make after-images of herself, a unicorn that can open portals to anywhere he wants and I know an earthpony with the power to negate any and all magic with a single touch. Heck, I've even fought another earthpony that had enough raw magical power that I wouldn't be surprised if he could beat Celestia in a fight,” that last statement caused Mane Six to pale at the mere thought since they could tell by the look on the dragon's face that he wasn't kidding around. They looked at Ditzy to see her shiver as if she was remembering a bad memory.

“What kind of powers do you have?” Rainbow asked. If what he said was true than he must be really strong to go up against someone like that and still be in one piece.

“Sorry, but I like to keep that to myself for now. Think of it like a puzzle where you'll have to figure out for yourself,” Spike said, much to Dash's annoyance. “Anyway there is much limit to what kind of powers somebody could get. While race, or heritage can have a hand in what kind of powers you can get, that is not always the case. You can get anything from controlling the weather with the flick of a wrist to healing and everything in between and then some.

“But what about unicorns darling?” Rarity asked.

“It's the same thing, but it's usually to a lesser extent,” Spike explained. ”Unicorns are usually a jack of all trades when it comes to magic, though, each one usually can still have certain types of magic, or spells that they are better at than most. Don't you all have one or two spells that you are really good at that most unicorns aren't?”

“Actually, yes, I do,” Rarity answered as her gem finding spell came to mind.

“That is basically one of things I'm going to teach you while I'm here. To discover what kind of powers you all have and help you hone them as much as I can,” Spike stated. “It's not the only thing I'm going to be training you in, far from it, but it will be one of the main highlights of it,” Twilight and her friends were starting to get excited. A whole new world of possibilities had just been opened to them and they couldn't wait to see it. Excitement, curiousity, and determined looks appeared on the six mares' face as they looked at the dragon and their senior student.

“When do we start?” Rainbow asked speaking for her friends.

A grin spread across the dragon's face as he saw their resolve in their eyes. “Right now.”

> Powers Revealed...Most of Them(Now editied)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Third Person P.O.V.

"Okay everyone," Spike started to explain. "I'm going to cast a dome spell that will allow us to see what kind of aura each of us possesses while inside of it. This will let me see what kind of powers you might have and the kind of training I should give each of you." 

The dragon brought his claws close together and a green and purple orb of pure magic appeared between them. As he spread his arms apart, the orb expanded until it encompass the eight of them. Slowly, auras appeared around them with different flows and colors. Twilight made a quick note about what kind of auras everyone and herself had.

Her own aura was two shades of purple that shined like a bright light. It was almost blinding.

Ditzy's was blue with a hints of grey that flowed like water around her with bubbles forming and popping.

The Rarity's aura was hard to describe. Her aura was a mix of light blue and white with what appeared to be shards of gems or crystals fading in and out around her.

Applejack's looked like orange blocks of earth falling and rising in a show of strength. 

The animal expert of the group had a soft cream and pastel pink glow; she had a gentle breeze going around her with the faint images of butterflies riding on the wind. 

If Fluttershy's aura was a gentle breeze, then Rainbow Dash's was a rainbow hurricane with blue lightning dancing around in it. 

The aura that Pinkie has mirrored the mare in the fact that it made little to no sense. It was hot pink that constantly changing in shape, size, and patterns randomly. 

Spike was mostly green with streaks of purple. The weird thing about it was that it changed patterns like Pinkie, but his stuck to three different kinds of auras. Two of them were similar to the auras Twilight and Applejack had while the third looked and moved like a flame.

"Okay," Spike called out, getting everyone's attention from looking at the colorful assortment of auras. "Now that I've got a good look at your auras, I can at least see what kind of powers you can use. Though I would like to point out that it is possible for your auras to change, allowing you to either gain new powers in addition to your current ones or for said new powers to replace the old ones."

"But our auras are an extension of ourselves right?" Twilight asked. When Spike nodded his head, she continued. "Then shouldn't they stay the same?"

"Sort of. However, you have to keep in mind that what makes up a person's aura is the state of their mind, body, and soul." Spike explained. "A change in a person's mindset will affect that person's aura. In most cases, the changes are small, but I have heard and seen cases where a big change in a person's way of thinking can completely change a person's aura. As a result, it could completely change that person's abilities as well. Stuff like mental or emotional trauma, depression, emotional shock, or scarring experiences are just a few things can cause a massive change. And those are just a few examples for changes to one's mind. That's not taking into account for either the body and soul."

Spike paused for a second when he saw Twilight furiously writing down what he said in her notebook. The drake shook his head as he thought to himself, 'At least I won't have to repeat myself to her.'

"Now Twilight," the aforementioned mare looked up from her notes to the drake, "your power is, unsurprisingly, magic. To be specific, it's pure magic, allowing you to mold and change it however you wish. You honestly have enough magic in you to pull off spells that would completely drain the average unicorn and still keep going. You'll be able to pull off spells that only a select few can normally do, regardless of race or species, as well as elemental magic, but you won't ever be as good as someone with the natural talent for a certain spell unless you spend years of painstaking training on just that one certain spell. Basically, you can learn and use just about any spell in existence to at least some extent if you train hard enough."

Twilight was practically vibrating in excitement at the information. While she wanted to learn just about anything that had to do with magic, she thought that such a thing would be impossible since there are spells that can only be cast by certain races and/or individuals. Now nothing that has to do with magic is out of her reach; she was already thinking about the new spells and types of magic she could study now.   

Next, Spike turned towards was Applejack.  

"Applejack, you have a strong connection to the earth, which is not surprising considering that you are an Earth Pony that comes from a long line of farmers. With proper training, it is possible for you to control the very ground under your hooves. You'll be able to control dirt and rock as if it is an extension of yourself. A stomp from you could cause earthquakes, a flick of the wrist will raise spears made of solid rock, and that is just the tip of the mountain of what you can do."

The apple farmer liked the sound of that. A power like that would not only be useful in a pinch, but also helpful when doing work on the farm. Meanwhile, Spike had moved on to the next mare in line.

"You have a unique aura Fluttershy." The shy mare in question let out a small 'eep' before looking at the drake from behind her curtain of hair. "You have a strong connection to animals, though from what I've heard about you, that is pretty obvious. From the looks of it, you have a strong potential to use Restoration class magic as well. Restoration involves mostly healing spells with a few spells used to fight against certain types of enemies such as the Undead and evil spirits. You also are capable of using wind magic, although it looks like you will only be able to use the basic level stuff. Still, I think having magic like that is better than not having it at all, even if you are stuck at the lowest levels. After all, it would do you good to have something in your skill set that you could use offensively towards all types of enemies and not just the undead."

Fluttershy had mixed feelings about her powers. On the one hand, the healing aspect really appealed to her kind-hearted nature, being able to heal her animals and friends sounded like a good deal to her. On the other hand, the fact that she might have to be the one to deal with zombies and the like, if such a situation arose, had her shaking like a leaf.  

"Rainbow, it's no surprise that you have an affinity for wind and lighting," Spike managed to say before being interrupted by the mare in question.

"Because of my amazing speed and overall awesomeness?" Dash asked with a smug tone and her chin held high.

"No," Spike bluntly stated. "I was going to say it was because you are a Pegasus. Usually, having one or both elements is pretty common for Pegasi, but whatever helps you sleep at night." After having her pride popped, the blue mare slightly deflated and grumbled to herself. "But, you do have more potential for both elements than the average Pegasus. Having both elements can give you a lot of possibilities. Wind is plentiful and can be used in a lot of different ways if you are creative enough. Lighting, on the other hand, can be precise or really destructive, sometimes even both. However, you have to be very careful. Like with any power, one wrong move and you can not only fry yourself, but your friends as well."  

While Rainbow Dash thought that having an affinity towards lighting and wind was the perfect match for her, both her and the others took his warning to heart.

"And finally, Rarity and Pinkie," Spike called out to the two. "I'll be frank, I'm not sure what powers you two have. Rarity, you have a combination that I haven't seen before. Your aura shows that you have enough regular magic in you to use spells from basic to maybe mid-tier, but that is nothing unusual for a unicorn. I also see that you have the talent for Conjuration magic, the magic class of summoning. The weird part is that it seems the Conjuration magic is mixed with what appears to be a variant of Applejack's power. Where hers allows Applejack complete control over any kind of earth, yours seems to be more focused on gems and crystals. Though I have no clue what kind of abilities you will have through that combination, we at least have something to work with." 

Rarity took the information in stride. Her exact power might not be obvious, but she was sure it would be glamorous and fitting of a high class mare such as herself. After all, it would involve one of the most fashionable things in the world.

"As for you Pinkie, your aura is like nothing I've ever seen before," Spike stated while scratching the side of his head in confusion. "It is like I'm looking at an abstract painting, I can't make heads or tails of what I'm seeing. I have absolutely no idea to what kind of power you will have." 

"But that also means I could have any power, right?" Pinkie asked.

Spike took a moment to think about the question before answering, "Possibly. At this point, it is anybody's guess."

"Then I could have like super speed, or even time based powers. Either one could come really handy at work." Pinkie Pie started to ramble about having different powers and their uses before the others tuned her out.

"Anyway, now that that is out of the way, I can explain what kind of training I have planned. We will start with some magic channeling exercises; this way, it will make it easier for the non-unicorns when you start to use your powers. As for Twilight and Rarity, there is a list of spells I want you two to work on in the mean time. From there, we will add physical exercise and hand-to-hand combat training to the mix, and everyone will participate. Everyone." Spike emphasized the last part with an evil grin. Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy weren't too keen on that.

"Sorry darling, but a lady such as myself does not sweat if she can help it," Rarity stated. Too bad she didn't know Spike. 

"Well that is going to change," The drake said, his grin not leaving his face. "By the time I'm done with you guys I want you to be able to last at least three minutes in a hand-to-hand fight against Ditzy here." He pointed to mare in question. While Rainbow and Twilight were excited and worried respectively at the thought everyone else was confused at the requirement. "For those who don't know, Ditzy here is a former student of mine. While not at my level, she is more than capable of kicking your butts as you are now." After giving everyone a moment to stock up the information, he continued. "Thankfully, for you guys, we don't start until two days from now, so you guys have some time to rearrange your schedules or whatever for your future training. Enjoy this small break while you can, because when training starts I can only promise two things-"

"That I will make you stronger than you believed you are capable of and it is going to be painful as all hell."